


Repair and Rebuild

by Phantom of Les Mis (Phantom_of_Les_Mis)



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:05:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9712637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_of_Les_Mis/pseuds/Phantom%20of%20Les%20Mis
Summary: Can Éponine repair Enjolras' broken heart? When Éponine was taken away from Manhattan, she left her life behind; her life of school, Les Amis and her childhood friend, Enjolras. Now she is back and she wants to restore the Enjolras that she loved so much. Ships: É/E and C/M





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'm trying out my first multi-chapter fanfic. Please review and tell me what you think!

After 5 years Éponine Thénardier is back. It wasn't that she wanted to leave in the first place, but it felt nice to be back. However, she wasn't coming back as Éponine Thénardier, but as Éponine Faulkner, the adopted daughter of Helen Faulkner.

At the end of Éponine's first year of junior high, she was forced to leave Manhattan with her parents and siblings to flee to San Francisco. The police in Manhattan were cracking down criminal activity, and Mr and Mrs Thénardier wanted to leave before they were caught. Although they had fled the police in Manhattan, within a year they were caught by the police in San Francisco. Éponine and all her siblings were thrown into the foster system and separated to different families.

After spending a year circling the system, Éponine's youngest brothers, Peter and Jack, were adopted into a small but caring family. Although it was sad to let them go, she knew that they would be guaranteed a much better life with loving parents, rather than with her. The next year, Éponine and her other two siblings, Gavroché and Azélma, were also adopted into a slightly larger family. Helen Faulkner had 2 children, Ruth and Seth, and they welcomed the three siblings into their family with open arms.

For the next 2 years, Éponine and Azélma attended Lowell High School with Ruth, and Gavroché finished elementary school at Lakeshore Alternative Elementary School with Seth. They made a lot of friends in San Francisco and Éponine and Ruth applied to many colleges, some around San Francisco, and others all around America. What they couldn't have anticipated was a string of coincidences which ultimately led to her meeting him.

It all started the morning of the first day of summer vacation. Envelopes arrived in the mail, 2 envelopes to be precise, and both had the Columbia University stamp on them. Mrs Faulkner handed one envelope to Éponine, and one to Ruth. The whole family was seated around the dining table, eagerly anticipating the news that was contained within the confines of the smooth, white paper.

"Who wants to open theirs first?" asked Mrs Faulkner.

Beforehand, Éponine had one a game of 'scissors, paper, rock' against Ruth, and insisted that she wanted to open hers after Ruth. Thus, Ruth put her hand up and commandeered silence at the table.

As Ruth slowly peeled back the sticky paper, all 6 pairs of eyes were glued to the envelope. Ruth pulled the pieces of paper out of the envelope, throwing it aside, and stood up reading:

"Dear Ruth, we thank you for your application to Columbia University. It is our great pleasure to congratulate you on winning a 50% scholarship into the establishment."

Squeals were audible all around the table as everyone jumped up to congratulate her. Only 2 people in the country were awarded this scholarship, along with 1 person who receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Ruth had tears in her eyes as she thanked everyone. Both Éponine and Ruth had their hearts set on that particular university. For Ruth, it was the fantastic medical course there, and for Éponine, it was a way to get back to Manhattan and meet her old friends.

As the family settled down, Éponine repeated Ruth's actions, peeling the envelope open, retrieving the papers inside, and standing up to read her letter:

"Dear Éponine, we thank you for your application to Columbia University. It is our great pleasure to congratulate you on winning the Community Scholars full scholarship."

Instantaneously, everyone was jumping about, hugging Éponine. The two girls smiled at each other, the months of studying have paid off.

The next few weeks were quite uneventful. Éponine and Ruth gathered their school supplies and got ready to head off to Manhattan. Éponine was anticipating the great reunion with her elementary school friends, but deep down, she was quite worried. She had left during summer vacation, leaving only a note to say goodbye to her friends. She knew that they were not one's to hold grudges for long periods of time but, she was slightly scared that their old comradery would not be able to be rectified after 5 years of silence.

What do you have to be afraid of, Éponine? she silently wondered to herself, It's not your fault that you had to leave Manhattan. Maybe they won't even remember you…

Éponine shook her head and kept packing her clothes. Her flight to Manhattan was a week away, and if she wanted to start college off well, she needed to have her head in the game. She looked across to see Ruth packing her things into a bright pink suitcase. What was up with Ruth and pink, she didn't know.

"Hey! You ready to head off to the land of the unknown?" Éponine asked Ruth with a bright smile in her eyes.

"Pfft, you're gonna be there to help me, right? Why should I be scared?" Ruth replied back with a laugh.

They both burst out laughing, unable to stop, and that's how Mrs Faulkner found them when she opened the door to their room.

"Hey girls," she called out, "I have an announcement to make. Zél, Gav and Seth are already waiting on the couch. Care to join us?"

Upon looking at the small frown that was visible on Mrs Faulkner's face, the girls instantly stopped laughing and carried similar worried expressions on their faces.

"Ma, are you alright?" Ruth asked.

"Just come downstairs. It's better if I tell you all at the same time." Mrs Faulkner replied as she turned and made her way downstairs.

The girls shared a look of confusion before shrugging and walking down the stairs. As they approached the couch, they could see that the others had no idea what was happening either. They took a seat on the black, leather couch and turned to face Mrs Faulkner who began to speak.

"Guys, I need to talk to you about an important decision that I have to make. As you know, my job has been very insecure for the past couple of months. My boss has just told me that I either have to transfer over to Manhattan, or lose my job altogether."

There was a deadly silence across the living room. Éponine didn't know what to feel. Of course, it would be great to have her family in Manhattan with her, but that meant that she would never be able to spend her summers here, in San Francisco. It seemed like Ruth was thinking the same thing as she said:

"Ma, you know that we will stick by whatever you choose. It's gonna be hard to leave everyone behind here, but I'm sure we will manage."

All 5 children nodded in agreement. They were all happy to be able to stay together, but knew that they would have to say farewell to all their San Franciscan friends.

"When's the flight?" Azélma asked curiously as she lifted her gaze from Éponine's to Mrs Faulkner's.

"We will be flying off with Éponine and Ruth."

Cheers erupted from all 5 siblings as they smiled at each other.

"Oh, and Éponine, I know you had some friends over in Manhattan, would you and Ruth like to go and meet them on our first day there?"

"Yes, thanks mum that would be great!" Éponine replied with her signature dimpled grin, present on her lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with another update! :D I didn't expect to be done with this chapter so soon, but I just couldn't stop writing until it was done. So here you are! Please R & R to tell me how to improve! Thanks, and happy reading!

Éponine stepped off the plane with a smile. Seth and Gavroché were skipping along with Ruth in tow. Azélma sighed in contentment as she glanced towards her older sister.

"It's great to be back, isn't it?" Éponine turned her head to the side and took a deep breath in.

"I'll never forget this smell of smoke and haze. It's been so long since we left, that I do feel like it was a whole lifetime ago. Don't you agree, Zél?"

With a nod, Azélma made her way over to Mrs Faulkner who was in deep conversation with Ruth about the start of college and other intricate details. Éponine felt like a bird, wanting to fly away and leave all her responsibilities behind in favour of a free flight in the bright blue skies. Gav seemed to pick up on her peaceful demeanour as he walked silently beside her.

"Do you remember anyone, 'Ponine?" Gav piped up.

"Yeah, my friends were pretty awesome. Let me see, there was Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Bousset, Joly, Marius, Feuilly, Grantaire, Jehan, and of course, Enjolras." Éponine remembered with a nostalgic smile on her face.

"You reckon they'll recognise you?"

"Well, we'll have to see. There _is_ only 1 of me to remember, and I've managed to remember the 10 of them, but I _did_ tell them that I would probably never see them again." Éponine remarked with a sigh.

* * *

Originally, the plan was for Ruth and Éponine to share a small room on the campus. However, since the whole family was moving over, they decided to buy a small apartment unit. It wasn't too small but was comfortable and homely. Azélma, Ruth and Éponine each had individual rooms next to each other, while Gavroché and Seth shared a room. The kitchen contained a rather large refrigerator, a gas stove, a microwave and an oven. Next to it was the dining room where there was a large, round, eight-seater table. The living room was the main area of the unit where all the aisles to the bedrooms and bathrooms opened up. There was a large wide screen TV surrounded by several black couches.

Éponine, Azélma and Gav stared open-mouthed at the completely furnished unit. Mrs Faulkner chuckled upon noticing the look on their faces.

"Get settled in, guys." Mrs Faulkner said as she spread her arms, gesturing to the various aisles.

All 5 children ran into their rooms and started unpacking. There was a great deal of noise emerging from the different rooms as they all hurried to get organised. As soon as they were finished, they would be allowed to explore the city. Mrs Faulkner left it up to the three girls to plan the day and left the 2 boys under their care.

"Have fun!" she called out as they ran out of the apartment in excitement. "Be back by 6!"

* * *

Their first stop was the Columbia University. 'Ponine and Ruth wanted to get acquainted with the campus, while 'Zél wanted to check out any new entrance scholarships that she could apply for. Seth and Gav grumbled with boredom as they trudged along behind the three girls.

"Ruth, why do we have to come here?" Seth whinged.

"Yeah, 'Ponine, we want to go play. I don't know what your definition of fun is, but if this is it, I'm seriously concerned." Gav whined as he dragged his feet.

"Honestly, the two of you need to pay attention. Soon it'll be you guys who will be heading off to college. You know that mum doesn't earn nearly enough to take care of all of us, so you need to try and save money yourselves." Éponine reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah _mum_ …" Gav shot back with a sarcastic smile.

* * *

By the time they had finished looking around, it was nearly lunch time. The boys were getting tired, but the girls wanted to see more of the city. Éponine was the most intrigued as she was the one who could remember most about the city from her childhood. She would compare every building, every street and every shop to what she had known 5 years ago. Azélma, on the other hand, had only glimpses of memory left of Manhattan. The only clear memory she had left was of a café called 'Café Musain'. Everyone was getting hungry as well, so it was no surprise when Éponine led them to the café.

The café was small and cosy with old, wooden furniture. Éponine remembered all the times she would come here with her friends and have hot chocolates in the middle of winter. Maybe it was the clear memory of warm and comfort which evoked Azélma's clear memory of the place.

They all took seats around a table and ordered their lunches. The girls engaged in conversations about the city that they had known and how much it had changed. They were so engrossed in their discussion that they did not hear the twinkle of the bell on top of the door. It was only when Gavroché poked Éponine and pointed towards the door, that she glanced up at the group of students that had just walked in.

There were 9 boys all dressed in casual clothes standing by the entrance. In an instant, Éponine knew who they were.

Combeferre looked as smart as ever. He was always the nerdy schoolboy, and it was no surprise that he had a philosophy textbook in his arms. Éponine had never known a time when 'Ferre wouldn't carry around a notebook of some sort and have a pen behind his ear.

Courfeyrac had his cheeky grin on, as usual, and his eyes glinted with mischief. Gavroché himself was a boy after Courfeyrac's own personality. Éponine gasped as Courf caught her eye with the slightest recognition. Suddenly, his eyes widened with surprise, disappointment, joy, sadness and glee, all at once. He nudged the tall blond man next to blond man turned around to see what Courf was going on about. It didn't take long for him to know. Needless to say, blue eyes met brown.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that it took me so long to update, I hope this chapter makes up for it. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

_No... No... No... This is not happening_ , thought Éponine. _He can't be here; I'm not ready for this..._ Enjolras himself looked like he didn't believe his eyes. Éponine, the Éponine who left him 5 years ago without as much as a goodbye. The Éponine who broke his wretched heart when she left, and not only that, she also said that she would NEVER return.  
Although everyone said that she wasn't to blame, he was insistent that Éponine had abandoned them. After all, she was the daughter of a crook. During the rest of middle school and high school, Enjolras had become closed off, finding his relief in school work and studying. However, to his annoyance, Éponine never left his mind. She was nothing to him now, so why did she still plague his thoughts and memories?  
As their eyes interlocked in a wave of emotions, it was almost as if time stopped. The boys looked at Éponine in shock, while Ruth, Gav, Seth and Zélma looked to her in confusion. No one seemed to realise that they were still in a cafe until Mr Myriel, the manager, cleared his throat and ushered the boys to a big table at the other end of the room.  
As soon as Éponine snapped out of her trance, the others instantly flooded with questions.  
"Ép! Who was that?" Ruth's voice exclaimed, laced with worry.  
"'Ponine! Isn't that Enjolras?" Zélma's asked with a concerned look on her face.  
"Enjolras? You mean that guy from middle school? 'Ponine, answer us!" Gavroché sounded annoyed and impatient.  
"Éponine, Éponine can you hear us?" Seth sounded scared and frightened. Éponine wasn't one to ignore people or cause anyone to worry about her. In fact, she almost always rebuked anyone who pitied her or worried about her.  
At this last question, Ép nodded slowly. She just couldn't believe it. What are the chances of meeting him on her first day back in Manhattan? He, of course, recognised her, she could see it in his eyes. The anger, frustration and sadness, all portrayed within a matter of seconds. Although he still looked like the Enjolras she knew, he had a different air about him. The blond curls that once hung messily around his face were now neatly cut and combed back. His eyes looked... not exactly cold and empty, but devoid of any warm emotions. No, he wasn't the cheeky, funny and playful Enjolras that she had left in Manhattan, but almost a shell of the person he used to be.  
"Yeah... yeah... I'm fine." Éponine replied, while slowly moving her eyes away from the table of boys.  
"Ép! That was Enjolras right?" Azélma asked.  
"Yup. " Éponine said, popping the p.  
"Who's that?" Ruth and Seth had confusion written all across their faces.  
"A close friend from middle school, that's all."  
"Actually, " Gav interrupted, "Enjolras was Éponine's closest friend. They went everywhere together. Ép never really had any friends until Enjolras asked her to join his group. Ép, stop understating your friendship with Enj."  
"No! He wasn't that important to me!” rebuked Éponine.  
Zélma opened her mouth to argue otherwise, but a series of beeps interrupted her. Ép looked at her phone, and gasped. They were so distracted with the sudden overflow of memories that they had lost track of time. Ép had organized a get-together with Cosette and Musichetta to introduce Ruth and Seth to her all-time best friends and to catch up with 5 years’ worth of news. Ép settled the bill as the others grabbed their stuff and together they raced out of the café, unaware of a pair of blue eyes following them out the door.

* * *

"Enjolras, was that...? You know...? Was that her? Is she back?” Combeferre’s sounded like a blur to Enjolras.  
"I...think...so? I think it's her, but I thought she had left us all for a better life in who knows where. What would she be doing back here?" Enjolras stood up and starting pacing across the floor. The other boys looked on with concern as they watch Enjolras take 4 steps in one direction before turning on his right heel and doing the same, back in the other direction. His hands were put together in a steeple position under his chin and his head was slightly bowed. The boys vaguely understood Éponine's previous importance in Enjolras' life, but only 'Ferre really knew how much it hurt him when Ép moved away.  
Enjolras had met Éponine back in 4th grade. At that time, she was known as 'the shadow'. 'Ferre himself introduced Enjolras to Éponine. He had gotten to know Ép in art class and liked her snarky remarks and quick wit. As they were walking out of class, they bumped into 'Ferre's best friend, Enjolras. Enjolras was a nerdy little boy back then, blond curls bouncing around messily, blue striking eyes daring anyone to challenge his mischievous behaviour… He was the epitome of a model student in class, but a cheeky little boy during breaks.  
When ‘Ferre introduced them, Enjolras rolled his eyes and dismissed the very idea of being friends with Éponine. Éponine instantly lost her temper and slapped Enjolras across his left cheek. Although it landed Ép in detention and left Enjolras’ cheek stained in pink for the next 2 days, Enjolras gained a new respect for the feisty girl and it forged a strong friendship between them, even if they often drove each other to the end of their wits. As soon as Enj brought Ép to sit with his group of friends at lunch break, they instantly warmed up to her and treated her like one of her own. Ever since that day, Enj and Ép had been the closest friends, doing almost everything together. When Éponine left Manhattan, it was almost as if a part of Enjolras had been ripped out of Manhattan with her. Nothing that any of the boys could do could bring the old Enj back. Through these last 5 years, they had learnt to put up with this marble façade of Enjolras’.  
 _If Éponine’s return could bring back anything, it better be that piece of Enjolra_ s, thought ‘Ferre as he tuned back into the conversation at the table with a quick glance to Enjolras’ hunched figure next to him.


End file.
